Right out of the gate, NYC musician and songwriter Mei Semones created an unusual blend of tropicalia, jazz, indie rock and chamber pop that is familiar, friendly, satisfying and uniquely hers. Animaru is her fantastic debut album and a great showcase for what she and her adept, highly skilled band can do. You can listen to that, and watch the video for the album’s title track, below.
For more on the album and her style, Mei made us a list of 10 influences, including João Gilberto & Stan Getz, Nirvana, Wes Montgomery, The Smashing Pumpkins, and more. Check out the list and her commentary below.
MEI SEMONES – 10 INFLUENCES BEHIND ‘ANIMARU’
All The Things You Are / 52nd Street Theme — Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Bud Powell, Max Roach, Charles Mingus
I love this recording! At the end of the phrase at 2:12 you can hear a specific lick that Bird often plays that was the inspiration for the first part of the lick at the beginning of the song “Dumb Feeling.” Overall my guitar lines are inspired a lot by bop licks 🙂
Polka Dots And Moonbeams — Wes Montgomery
This is such an amazing recording of this song, and the whole album is one I’ve listened to many times throughout the years. I include this tune in this list because the first notes of the melody inspired the last notes of the lick at the beginning of the song “Dumb Feeling.”
Dumb — Nirvana
I love the lyrics in this song, and they inspired the idea for the lyrics in the song “Dumb Feeling” — the idea of a dumb feeling being a happy feeling, although my interpretation is probably a bit different than what Kurt Cobain meant.
In Bloom — Nirvana
I love the chords in this song — how some of them are a little unexpected / dissonant but still so catchy and work so well with the melody. This type of chord movement that Nirvana often uses inspired the chord progressions at the end of songs like “Animaru” and “Zarigani.”
Prelude To A Kiss — Jim Hall, Ron Carter
I love this guitar & bass duo album, and specifically wanted to have “Donguri” (the sixth song on the album) be guitar/bass duo to capture this intimate feeling that live duo recordings have. Also, part of the melody for “Norwegian Shag” was inspired by the melody of Prelude To A Kiss, there’s a few specific notes with a very recognizable interval that you’ll probably notice if you listen to them one after another.
Today — The Smashing Pumpkins
This song has that insistent repeating high register guitar melody that starts off the song and returns again at the end. Similarly, there is a repetitive high register guitar melody as one of the guitar layers in the choruses of the song “Rat with Wings” that was inspired by this sound.
Mr. P.C. — John Coltrane
Such a classic recording with great solos! Specifically, the melodic minor lick that Coltrane plays towards the start of his solo at 0:33 inspired the start of the guitar lick that I am singing along with throughout the pre-choruses of the song “Zarigani.”
É Preciso Perdoar — João Gilberto, Stan Getz
This is one of my favorite recordings of Gilberto and I keep coming back to it over and over again. Overall I’m inspired by a lot of Brazilian music, and this specific song comes to mind just because of how much I’ve listened to it.
Autumn Leaves — Joe Pass
This was one of the first standards I learned, and I remember learning a vague interpretation of Joe Pass’s solo guitar arrangement for the head. His virtuosic solo guitar lines come to mind as an inspiration when thinking about the guitar lines towards the end of the song “Tora Moyo.”
Portrait of Tracy — Jaco Pastorius
Obviously this is such an iconic example of the use of harmonics in a song. I include this song on this list because it’s pretty much the one and only tune I’ve learned that has a lot of harmonics in it, and harmonics are one of the main characteristics in a couple of the songs on the album, like “I can do what I want” and “Rat with Wings.”
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Mei will play a record release show at Brooklyn’s Music Hall of Williamsburg on May 7 with John Roseboro also on the bill. She’ll begin her spring/summer tour on May 29 in Philly and dates includes runs with Roseboro and Lionmilk. All dates are below…
MEI SEMONES – 2025 TOUR DATES
Wed. May 7 – Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg*
Thu. May 29 – Philadelphia, PA @ World Cafe Live*
Fri. May 30 – Washington, DC @ The Atlantis*
Sat. May 31 – Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle Back Room*
Mon. June 2 – Atlanta, GA @ Aisle 5*
Tue. June 3 – Nashville, TN @ DRKMTTR*
Wed. June 4 – Louisville, KY @ Zanzabar
Fri. June 6 – Columbus, OH @ Ace of Cups*
Sat. June 7 – Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall*
Sun. June 8 – Milwaukee, WI @ Cactus Club*
Mon. June 9 – Minneapolis, MN @ 7th St Entry*
Wed. June 11 – Ferndale, MI @ The Loving Touch*
Thu. June 12 – Toronto, ON @ Longboat Hall*
Fri. June 13 – Montreal, QC @ Bar Le Ritz PDB*
Sat. June 14 – Boston, MA @ Red Room Cafe 939*
Fri. July 11 – Dallas, TX @ Club Dada ~
Sat. July 12 – Austin, TX @ Parish ~
Tue. July 15 – Phoenix, AZ @ Valley Bar ~
Wed. July 16 – San Diego, CA @ Quartyard ~
Fri. July 18 – Los Angeles, CA @ Lodge Room ~
Sat. July 19 – San Francisco, CA @ The Independent ~
Mon. July 21 – Portland, OR @ Polaris Hall ~
Tue. July 22 – Vancouver, BC @ Biltmore Cabaret ~
Wed. July 23 – Seattle, WA @ Barboza ~
Sun. July 27- Yuzawa @ Fuji Rock Festival
Fri. August 1 – Taipei @ The Wall
Mon. August 4 – Seoul @ Westbridge Live Hall
* with John Roseboro
~ with Lionmilk